Astarabad ([E.I.] R. N. Frye, 1986)

Astarabad

Astarabadh, Astarabad, (Istirabad in Samani, Ansab).

1. A town in Iran situated ca. 23. east of the S-E corner of the Caspian Sea at 36° 49’ N. lat. And 54° 26’ E. long (Greenw.) on a tributary of the Karasu. It is 377 ft. above sea level and 3 m. from the foothills of a mountain chain, a spur of the Elburz. The town lies on a plain which ends in the Turkoman steppes to the north. Astarabadh is now called Gurgan (not to be confused with medieval Gurgan, Arabic Djurdjan, to the N-E).

The pre-Islamic history of the town is unknown, and it is uncertain whether it existed before Islam, although Mordtmann in SB Bayr. AK. 1869, 536, identifies it with ancient Zadrakarta. The etymology of the name is also obscure. Folk etymology connects the name with the Persian word for “star”, or for “mule”, and appropriate stories are told of the origin of the town.

Astarabadh was the second city of the province of Gurgan in Islamic times and underwent the same fortunes as the capital city Gurgan. The province was raided by the Arabs in the time of the caliph ‘Uthman (al-Baladhuri, Futuh, 334), and again by Sa’id b. ‘Uthman under Mu’awiya, but it was not conquered until Yazid b. Muhallab defeated the ruling Turks of the area in 98/716. There is a tradition that Yazid founded Astarabadh on the site of a village called Astarak.

There were frequent rebellions in Gurgan during both the Umayyad and the ‘Abbasid caliphates. Astarabadh is rarely mentioned by historians, and the geographers also give little information. It was a silk centre according to al-Istakhri, 213. The port of Astarabadh (and Gurgan) n the Caspian, Abaskun, was an important trading centre. The Hudud al-‘Alam, 134, says the people of Astarabadh spoke two languages, one of which is probably preserved in the dialect used by the Hurufi sect.

After the Mongol conquest of Iran we find Astarabadh replacing Gurgan as the most important town of the area. The province was the scene of strife between the last Il-Khans, the Timurids, and local Turkish tribal leaders. Sometime during this period the Qadjar tribe of Turkomans become the leading power in Astarabadh. Agha Muhammad, first of the Qadjar Shahs, was born in Astarabadh. Shah ‘Abbas I, Nadir Shah, and Agha Muhammad all erected buildings in Astarabadh. The town, located on the steppes, continually suffered the depredations of Turkomans.

Astarabadh had many mosques and shrines (see Rabino, below), and was called dar al-mu’minin probably because of the many sayyids living there.

2. The name of the town was changed to Gurgan under Riza Shah, and in 1950 it had ca. 25,000 inhabitants. There are few old remains in the town, and only two are noteworthy, the Imamzada Nur and the mosque of Gulshan. Rabino (below, 73-5) lists the shrines of the town as well as the inscriptions.

The province of Astarabadh, as it existed under the Qadjars, was bounded on the north by the Gurgan River, on the south by the Elburz Mts., on the west by the Caspian Sea and Mazandaran, and on the east by the district of Djadjarm. The district (shahristan) of Gurgan under Riza Shah was smaller. The province could be divided into two parts, the mountain are and the plains. The former is well-watered with many trees, while the latter is fertile, even marshy but becomes desert to the north. Wheat and tobacco are grown extensively here. The population is mixed, with Persian speakers predominant in the mountain area and the towns, and Turkomans on the plains.

R. N. Frye ― Astarabadh, Encyclopaedia of Islam, Volume I. A-B (1986)